Time Travel no Jutsu Makes Things Better?
by YAXON
Summary: In which Naruto finds a time-travel seal in the ruins of the Land of Whirlpool and ends up sending a bunch of Shadow Clones back in time to Make Things Better. Of course, Shadow Clones being Shadow Clones, they can't very well stick around to explain themselves to the very-much-lost people of the past why they did what they did. Crackfic.
1. Chapter 1

A silver-haired retired Jonin observed his blond Hokage warily as they and a few others stood at a distance from what was once their home. 'Once,' because the Hidden Leaf wasn't their home anymore – their paranoid enemies had made quite sure of that. Truly, the 'Land of Fire' was a very, very fitting title for what they were now witnessing before their very eyes.

"Naruto… What exactly did you do? I can understand some of our former enemies turning on us again, but _the Land of Iron_ was leading the charge. _The Land of Iron_." Kakashi tacked on the end for emphasis. Seeing his hyperactive, knuckleheaded former student sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and laughing nervously did not exactly instill great confidence in the middle-aged Hatake.

"Um… So you're not gonna believe this, y'know, but a couple years ago I went to the old Land of Whirlpools for the first time, and I found some neat stuff!" Those within hearing distance of Naruto and Kakashi visibly tensed at this. Naruto thought it was 'neat' to find new ways to make stuff explode, so obviously he had a different opinion of what that word meant than the majority of them. But Naruto pressed on, "I'm hardly a Seal Master like Pervy Sage or Ma, but I still knew what I was lookin' at when I came across this one seal, y'know! Who knew a _time-travel seal_ was developed by my clan?! With the right amount of Chakra and people, just about anyone could activate it! Sooo… I kinda brought the design back here and was working on and off with it for the past two years or so. Took me a while, but I finally cracked it!"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side slightly in contemplation as he considered this information. The seal alone could explain the uncontrollable flames encompassing their former home, but Kakashi knew for a fact that their former allies had been the ones to commit arson, so…

"Well… That's not so bad on its own, I guess… Reckless of you to try and tamper with an Uzumaki seal, especially one that sounds pretty complicated, but where did the other nations come in…?"

Naruto squirmed some more at Kakashi's continued questioning. His nervous laughter really wasn't helping his case. A pink-headed woman chose that moment to stalk over to the two males, her knuckles cracking dangerously.

"Na… ru… to…" Sakura growled. "What. Did. You. Do?!"

"Ehe… You know how I can't keep quiet about stuff!" Naruto held up his hands defensively. "Plus, why would you wanna keep quiet about something like this?! Our lives are great, but it could be a thousand times greater if we went back and saved everyone! Kakashi-sensei's dad, Obito, Neji and his dad, and even all kindsa people in other countries! We could kill Madara, Orochimaru, Danzo, and those Zetsu things before they went too far! … So I wanted to let everyone know they'd be seeing the return of loved ones, and kinda blabbed all about the seal and where I got it. Do ya think their attack had something to do with that, maybe?"

… Huh. This was the first Kakashi was hearing of it; same went for a number of people within hearing range. Just how the hell had the _other nations_ heard all about Naruto's latest altruistic mission, but they hadn't heard a peep? He was their _Hokage_ , for crying out loud!

Regardless, that didn't stop Sakura from slugging her former teammate and Hokage into the surrounding forests several meters away, and at this point, nothing could. Kakashi sighed tiredly and rubbed his temples. Truly, Naruto had the best of intentions in mind, and the other nations most likely knew this, having battled alongside him in the last war. That wouldn't stop the outrage, however, and Naruto should have been remotely aware of this.

No single hidden village should have that much power; with that kind of seal, Naruto, and the Uzumaki Clan by proxy, might as well have relabeled himself as a god. After Lord Third and his generation passed away, no one in the Hidden Leaf really knew why the Uzumaki Clan was nearly brought to extinction beyond the vague explanation that the Uzumaki sealing prowess had become widely feared and renowned, but Kakashi suspected that this seal that Naruto just so happened to find would explain a lot, honestly. Paranoia made up a lot of the shinobi lifestyle; of course people were going to fear a _time-travel seal_.

There would be no more history because it would be ever-changing, thanks to dissatisfied shmucks like their Hokage…

Thank Kami Sasuke never got his hands on that seal.

"So… It's gone now, right?" Kakashi asked Naruto warily as the blond came trudging back up to his two former teammates with a bulbous-sized bruise on top of his head. " _Right_ , Naruto?"

This more urgent prodding came about as a result of Naruto appearing sheepish… _again_ …

"Weeell… In the Hidden Leaf, yeah. You know my style, Kaka-sensei! I had a few groups of Shadow Clones outside the village working on the seal, too. Heck, most of the testing for the Jutsu was done outside the village! I didn't wanna endanger our home, y'know?"

… Oh, the irony. It _burned_.

Kakashi visibly wilted at this as he held up a pointer finger.

"Naruto… Are you telling me you _tested it_ already?" They might've only been Shadow Clones, but there was that long-standing theory that even the tiniest changes in history could bring _disaster_. And since they were Shadow Clones of _Naruto_ , Hero of the Fourth War…

They were screwed.

"Yeah, a few groups of Clones did. There must be at least three excursions into the past goin' on right now… All chose different points in time, y'know." Naruto muttered and nodded thoughtfully as he crossed his arms. "One group…"

But before Naruto could explain anything, there was a flash of light that encompassed _everything_ , and then they all knew no more…

* * *

 _Timeline Alpha…_

Eight Shadow Clones tumbled into some forested area after popping out of a vortex that spewed lightning bolts as it appeared at a random location in the forest. As soon as the Shadow Clones had arrived and came to a stop, the vortex immediately closed up and vanished as if it had never been there at all.

Such was an Uzumaki time-travel seal.

"Success!" A Shadow Clone pumped a fist into the air triumphantly. He motioned for the other Clones to gather 'round. "'Kay. So here's the plan. We'll break up into two squads and nip this whooole thing in the bud. I mean, seriously, this is where all the problems began, y'know?"

The Clone received seven affirmative nods in response. With that being said, they broke into groups of four without much fuss. After all, both aspects of the mission were important, so it wasn't like there was much to compete for. Especially when they were all Shadow Clones of the same awesome guy.

They'd all entered Sage Mode, of course. Hyper-sense of awareness added to Chakra Sensory Technique made for nearly unbeatable shinobi. Well. They were all still very beatable; hell, one hit, and they were done. However, there was eight of 'em, and all of 'em were in Sage Mode, so their mission's rate of success was drastically improved even if they eventually ended up dispelling before all the changes took effect.

One group had a lock on their target, which was close by. The other… would have to travel quite a bit. But they would make it to their destination, or their name wasn't Naruto Uzumaki. Believe it.

In a matter of minutes, the first squad of Shadow Clones had reached the cave just as it was beginning to collapse. The trio they were sent to save were running for the exit – well, that wasn't completely true, as the silver-haired teen ended up tripping and the raven-haired teen had turned around to save him. The brunette stood there helplessly.

 _That_ was when the squad of Naruto's charged into the cave dramatically and thrust the trio of teenagers to safety outside of the cave with Sage Jutsu strength and took the brunt of the boulder that had been meant for the raven-haired kid. Sure, it was a suicide run for the three Naruto's that had charged into the cave, but they didn't need to worry about sticking around to make sure Team Minato survived for sure.

That's 'cause the fourth Naruto was outside delivering a Rasenshuriken to that bastard Kakko's face. And when he was done offing that one Stone-nin, the Shadow Clone formed two more Shadow Clones to form a Mega Rasenshuriken to take out the group of Stone-nin that were on their way to that location to back-up their comrades.

Poor bastards didn't stand a chance as the giant Rasenshuriken cut cleanly through the trees and burst just as it enveloped the entire group of Stone-nin. Then the Shadow Clones dispelled from Chakra exhaustion, and poor, poor Team Minato were left with no one to plausibly explain what had just transpired.

"What. The. Fuck?!" Obito exclaimed, mouth agape as he took in the destruction of the cave and many of the nearby trees. That had happened in the blink of an eye, and Obito had just awoken his bloody Sharingan, damn it!

Needless to say, Obito had summed up _exactly_ what Kakashi and Rin had been thinking, too…

* * *

 _Timeline Beta_

Meanwhile, in a time not-so-distant from where that first group of Shadow Clones went to, a small army of Shadow Clones had appeared somewhere in the Land of Rain. Every single one had Sage Jutsu flipped on, and was surveying the confrontation that was just starting between Hanzo the Salamander and his forces, Root, and the Akatsuki leadership. The fact that they traveled through a much larger lightning-spewing vortex to better accommodate them was enough of an attention-grabber to halt the confrontation before it truly began.

"Who the hell are you?" Hanzo the Salamander bellowed from atop the cliff, demanding an immediate answer. He did not like the way these Shadow Clones were eying him savagely, not one bit…

They all answered in unison, of course. Honestly, it was kinda creepy.

"Naruto Uzumaki! We're gonna kick your ass, believe it!"

And then the small army surged forward like a stampeding herd – some already charging up Rasenshurikens and Rasengans. Yahiko and Nagato stared at the stampede of orange-colored eyesores in a dead sort of way, accepting their inevitable fate, but they needn't have worried. The whole army veered away from them and began ascending the cliff-face to get at Hanzo, his men, and the Root personnel that were throwing every kind of projectile they could to kill off as many of the Shadow Clones as they could.

Not one Shadow Clone popped from their defensive barrage.

Soon, Konan was freed from those bastards and returned safely to Nagato and Yahiko, who were still staring kinda dumbly at the sight of the blonds beating the crap out of Hanzo and Danzo's forces. Some Shadow Clones did eventually pop due to the head-on confrontations, but not as many as one would think when going up against elite Anbu forces.

Even Hanzo was forced into retreat with his tail between his legs. A bunch of Danzo's goons were beating a hasty retreat, but Naruto's Shadow Clones were not letting them get away. At all. One Shadow Clone stayed behind to talk to Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.

"Sorry about all that… Our mission's not over 'til that bastard Danzo's deader than a doornail. But you're free to go wherever ya want!" The Clone quickly tacked on at the end of his 'explanation.' He brought his arms behind his head and grinned toothily. "But, uh… If you could do one thing for me… Don't go insane and try collecting all the Tailed Beasts to make a super-weapon to bring about a cycle of endless fear and hatred for the sake of 'peace.' That's not how you go about makin' peace, y'know? Just… try somethin' else. Liiike peace, love, 'n ramen. That's the best way to go about it, y'know."

The trio of Jiraiya's former students blinked owlishly at the Clone's absurd speech. This did not make sense… _at all_.

Still. Naruto's Shadow Clone saluted the trio without another word and went off to join his compatriots in kicking Root's collective posterior. Root wasn't gonna come to a miserable end on its own. Not with that bastard Danzo at the helm.

Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were _still_ trying to work out what had just happened looooooong after the Shadow Clones had run off after members of Root. Perhaps it was time to reopen communication with Jiraiya-sensei? All of those Clones bore the Hidden Leaf insignia, after all.

Maybe the Hidden Leaf had just gone insane? What other explanation was there for blond, orange-wearing eyesores?

… Don't answer that. They wouldn't be able to handle much more of this…

* * *

 _Timeline Gamma_

… This group of Shadow Clones was _really_ confused when they reached the point in time they'd been aiming for. Confusion didn't even begin to describe what they were feeling as the twelve of them began investigating. Like, seriously… When had Obito become the Fifth Hokage? For that matter, when had the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rain become such great allies?

And why the hell was Madara's ancient relic of a body now a preserved museum exhibit?

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sooo… I started work on this one back in January. Been in my archives this long, but I did extensive work on it. Significant changes in the premise and everything. If this goes over well at all, I will be surprised. It's not chaotic to the point of** _ **That was Anticlimactic**_ **, but it got out-of-control in certain parts, I'll be the first to admit that…**

 **As for why I went 'Timeline Alpha' and so on, it's 'cause the initial plan was to do multiple timelines. But then I thought it'd be funnier to combine them, so... Hence the end bit. :P**

 **Just another small-ish treat for you guys. I might do more on this; I dunno. If you want more, I'll expand on it. If it's a flop, it's a flop. At least I finally did a time-travel fic, even if it was crack. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

_Timeline Alpha_

The charge to the Mountains' Graveyard was done in record time, and fairly uneventful to boot. There was the issue of a few White Zetsu that were in place for the extraction of Obito at Kannabi Bridge, but they were immediately detected and eradicated. Even though Team Minato was saved in this one instance, it wouldn't be enough to secure their future. That old fart Madara was patient as all hell; he'd lived this long on life support, so he could live a few more years if it meant eventually kidnapping Obito for Project Tsukuyomi.

No. Naruto's Shadow Clones needed to nip this in the bud _completely_. There had been eight Shadow Clones that had come back to this time period. One squad was sufficient for the rescue of Team Minato; the _other_ squad was meant to sack Madara's base of operations, kill that old fossil, seal away Black Zetsu, and destroy the Gedo Mazo. Neither Madara nor Black Zetsu would see this coming…

"Who the hell are you? And why do you trespass on my property?" The ancient Uchiha Clan Head rasped as the four Shadow Cones drilled a hole through the earth and landed dramatically a few feet away from Madara, who was seated below the Gedo Mazo Statue, as per usual in his weakened state.

"We all know about your bat-shit insane plan for the shinobi world! And they end! Today!" One Shadow Clone in particular struck a dramatic pose, pointing accusingly at Madara. Madara scoffed.

"My 'plan,' as you so eloquently put it, is _hardly_ insane. Project Tsukuyomi is the only hope for salvation in this depraved world. There are winners, and there are…"

Before Madara could hope to go through with his lengthy prepared speech that had been meant for Obito, a Shadow Clone appeared in front of him courtesy of a Shunshin with a Rasengan in hand. Madara's final thought had been relatively simple in his final moments.

 _'Well, shit.'_

And just like that, the Shadow Clone shoved the Rasengan straight into Madara's decrepit chest and plowed him straight through his throne and into the base of the Gedo Mazo. The old codger might have survived if he'd been connected to the Gedo, but a second Shadow Clone had appeared behind the throne in a Shunshin and had severed the tube-like extension of the Gedo via a Wind-style-charged kunai.

Ding-dong, Madara Uchiha's dead. In a boneless heap. Far older than when he purportedly kicked the bucket.

Madara might've lived to be over a century old, but he'd lost a lot of his edge in his waning years…

Now, to any normal shinobi, this would seem like a successful mission completion. The man who ultimately brought about so much misery was deceased. No longer living. In theory, the Clones could leave the Gedo Mazo stored there in the Mountains' Graveyard and just cause a cave-in to discourage others from finding it. They would be systematically taking out the network of White Zetsu, though.

 _However_ , Naruto's Shadow Clones knew better. Madara was a pawn just like Obito. As long as the Gedo Mazo was around, there was still a chance that Kaguya would return, and Naruto couldn't have that happen. At all. Kaguya's Will was still running amok, and it would bring pain and misery to countless generations to come for the sake of bringing back one woman whose age had long since passed. Just like Madara.

The Shadow Clones could still feel the creature creeping about in the room, sticking to the shadows out of sight. One of the Shadow Clones who had yet to do anything pounced on it when the creature least expected it and slammed a sealing scroll smack dab on top of it. Black Zetsu unleashed an otherworldly howl as it was sucked into the intricate sealing array on the scroll like milkshake sludge up a vacuum tube.

In other words, it looked nasty, _felt_ nasty, but it was done as easy as one-two-three. With the real threat incapacitated, the Shadow Clone that had captured Black Zetsu unfurled yet another scroll with an intricate seal array on it. Moments later, the seal array flashed and black flames consumed the scroll containing Black Zetsu until it was completely eradicated.

Sure, none of the Shadow Clones could control Amaterasu, but they didn't need to. They just needed a handful of the stuff to do away with Black Zetsu. And technically the flames would stop burning once the scroll was destroyed, so there was that. The final obstacle to a Completely Successful Mission was the Gedo Mazo. Sure, Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha were no longer around to use it to capture the Tailed Beasts, but Nagato would still be able to Summon it by accident.

Basically, it all boiled down to ensuring Kaguya's chances of returning were nil. As long as the Gedo Mazo remained, someone could collect the Tailed Beasts and become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki. Statistically, chances of that happening were absurdly low with Black Zetsu and Madara gone, but Naruto had learned to leave nothing to chance. After all, if _he_ could pull off miracles, why couldn't anyone else?

And so, three of the four Shadow Clones poured their Chakra together to create a Mega Tailed Beast Bomb Rasenshuriken – Mock Nine – to disintegrate the Gedo Mazo once and for all. And here the Sage of Six Paths had thought the Gedo would have to be sealed in order to be beaten. Silly Sage. Kaka-sensei ripped an arm off, so obviously it could be destroyed.

Really.

At any rate, the fourth Shadow Clone had left the destruction of the Gedo Mazo to his compatriots and hightailed it out of the Mountains' Graveyard with Madara's corpse in tow. After all, it wouldn't do to let the man die an unknown death… No, his husk deserved to be preserved for all posterity. Even if that was kinda gross and immoral… Meh. Not Naruto's problem. They were ninja, believe it.

* * *

 _Timeline Beta_

Danzo had not been having a good day. He'd come out to the Hidden Rain with the majority of his Root forces to eliminate a threat to Hanzo's regime as a sign of 'trust' and 'good faith' – in truth, Danzo was just trying to get Hanzo to drop his guard. Once Hanzo felt secure, Danzo fully intended to have the man assassinated and then have a puppet figurehead installed so that _he_ would control the Hidden Rain…

Completely for the sake of the Hidden Leaf. Uh-huh.

But just as that meddlesome group called Akatsuki had been on the verge of extinction, this shit occurred. Dozens of Shadow Clones of the same blond man that bore some kind of resemblance to Minato Namikaze showed up and ruined _everything_. Hanzo's goons had been offed without much effort, and plenty of his own men had been taken down, too.

And then his followers had been dumb enough to retreat to their main outpost here, where he was currently located. Danzo wanted to rip their heads off for being so monumentally stupid as to lead the enemy here, even if they were just Shadow Clones… and bore the Hidden Leaf insignia…

No. They were imbeciles through and through. And Danzo wouldn't even get a chance to rectify their shameful behavior, because the army of Shadow Clones wrecked physical structure of the outpost and were now in the process of offing the remainder of Root right there and then. Danzo could see the sheer power these Shadow Clones wielded, and swore they were on par with Hiruzen in terms of skill and power.

Brains not so much, but then… That just made this day and invasion all the worse.

"We've got ya now…" A Shadow Clone cackled as seven of them moved in on Danzo in particular. Danzo huffed and unleashed Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to blow them all away. But then a Rasengan smashed into the back of his head and blew his brains out, as an eighth Shadow Clone had been the real threat. The other seven were just diversions.

"Well, that was easy, y'know!" The Clone smirked and pumped his fist in the air victoriously. Then he looked down at his orange uniform, which was now bathed in Danzo's blood and brains. "Ewww… I got Danzo Brain Juice all over me!"

The Shadow Clone flicked his wrists about in a panicked manner and ignored the fact that his other selves were wrapping up the extinction of Root. It was in the bag, now.

None of the Shadow Clones were too pleased that Orochimaru wasn't present for this battle, but then… That was another group of time-travelling Shadow Clones' problem. _Their_ sacred mission was to save Yahiko and exterminate Danzo and disband Root. Another group was given the task of saving Obito and ending Madara and Black Zetsu. And another group…

* * *

 _Timeline Gamma_

The twelve Shadow Clones had all decided to split up (in pairs) to find out what the hell was going on. They weren't too pleased to find out the timeline had changed so drastically already… But then, in hindsight, wasn't that the point of all those Shadow Clones going back in time, to Make Things Better? They just never imagined it would be so _annoying_ to relearn… everything, basically. Mostly history, but there was the issue of current events, too.

Their purpose was to find Orochimaru at the Chunin Exams and hit him with their prized Therapy Jutsu™ to get him to stop his ambitions of destroying the Hidden Leaf and killing off the Old Man. To this day, Naruto wasn't really sure how Sasuke managed to pull it off, but he'd gotten Orochimaru to be really docile.

… Well. Actually, it made a helluva lotta sense. Oro-teme was a wee bit _waaay_ too interested in Sasuke-teme's body. Che. 'I only want his body.' Yeah. Right. Sounds totally innocent, y'know.

Anyways, the changes to the timeline were really, really interesting when the Clones managed to get their hands on some information.

\- Team Minato went on to be the Neo-Sannin, more or less.

This fascinated Naruto's Shadow Clones. Before the disastrous mission to Kannabi Bridge and all the crap that came after it, Team Minato didn't seem like they'd grow up to be legends. But on the other hand, neither did Team Seven. Hell, if they were going to subjectively go off of first impressions, none of the Hidden Leaf Twelve would've had a chance at becoming anything remotely close to 'legendary' statuses.

At any rate, Kakashi had become a legendary shinobi in their own timeline, so it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that Obito and Rin did, too. 'Bito still managed to awaken his Mangekyo somehow, but then there was the enigma of Rin Nohara. She did _not_ become a Jinchuriki in this timeline – arguably a good thing, but that left the question of what her skillset currently was…

Moving on.

\- Kushina lived through childbirth. Five times.

This baffled Naruto's Shadow Clones. This meant they had at least four siblings (they were still in the process of investigating the possibility of twins at any point in these childbirths). While disturbing to think of their parents mating like rabbits, it was also endearing… in a way… It meant they'd done good in changing the timeline for the better. The Naruto of this timeline had one big, happy family. No angsty childhood. He wasn't a pariah. Hell, he wasn't a _Jinchuriki_. Kushina was still Kurama's host. That was really weird to contemplate.

But not as weird as the concept of brothers and sisters. Growing up as a single orphan will do that for ya.

\- The Uchiha Clan was more integral to the village now.

With no masked man running amok causing all kindsa issues, the Uchiha Clan was never ostracized from the rest of the village. Hell, Minato had Mikoto as one of his Councilors. Homura and Koharu had stepped down shortly after Hiruzen had handed over the reins to Minato; Danzo's mysterious disappearance reminded them they weren't getting any younger, and they should enjoy their waning years like Hiruzen was. The Uchiha had branched out from just running the Police Force, too; some were in the T&I Division, others were Jonin instructors, and yet others were medics and artists among other disciplines.

Hell, the current Hokage was an Uchiha. A former black sheep of the Clan, but still. A Hokage _that was an Uchiha_. That hadn't happened since Madara's near-installation back in the Founding Days of the village.

\- The Hidden Mist was a part of the Leaf-Sand-Rain Alliance.

Again, with no masked man running the show, things were drastically different from the original timeline. The Hidden Mist was much more open compared to what it had been around this time in the original timeline, and the best part was that Zabuza and Haku were still alive and well. The _Yuki Clan_ was still alive and well, in addition to all the other bloodline clans that had been purged by Yagura through the manipulation of Obito.

The Kaguya Clan was still around, too – still as crazy and violent as ever. With the exception of Kimimaro, anyway.

Yagura was still the Mizukage and the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails. Mei Terumi was his secretary and current most-likely successor. Utakata wasn't a rogue ninja. And _Zabuza and Haku were still alive_. … Yes, that'd been stated before, but the Shadow Clones were still boggling at that fact.

\- The Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud were in a tenuous Alliance.

Probably the closest thing to a conflict this timeline would see. Those villages took the longest to warm up to a Shinobi Alliance in the original timeline – well, them and the Hidden Mist, but in this timeline Minato and Obito were able to open up negotiation channels and whatnot – and it looked like they would be the same in this one.

… But at least all the Jinchuriki were still alive and kicking. They didn't need to worry about Akatsuki hunting them down, because…

\- Akatsuki was the current leadership of the Hidden Rain.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had stormed Hanzo's tower with the intention of ending his oppressive regime, but the man had given up without a fight, to the confusion of Naruto's Shadow Clones. But then they learned of that infamous battle where a small army of Shadow Clones had appeared out of nowhere and beaten Hanzo into retreat…

Naruto's Shadow Clones were still scratching their heads about that one. Mostly because Danzo and his Root were completely omitted from the account of that one-sided battle. Not a single mention was made.

At any rate, the original peaceful organization of Akatsuki was in charge of the Hidden Rain. That meant no Tobi, or Zetsu, or Kakuzu, or Hidan, or Sasori, or Deidara, or Kisame, etc., etc. Most of those guys were still running about, albeit in a disjointed fashion. Because they had absolutely no reason to come together in the first place.

This still left the mystery of whatever happened to Orochimaru, but apparently he had disappeared off the face of the earth. Literally. There were no whispers of Hidden Sound, no accounts of him defecting from or just plain leaving the Hidden Leaf. After a certain point, around the time the Naruto of this timeline and Sasuke were born, the man had just vanished. Completely.

\- Tsunade and Jiraiya returned to the Hidden Leaf permanently.

Apparently, Minato managed to convince Tsunade to return to the village somehow. Well, the 'how' was kinda easy; offer her a generous paycheck to gamble away at her leisure, and Tsunade will be willing to do just about anything. In terms of Jiraiya, there was very little for his spy network to be focused on, like Orochimaru's defection and Akatsuki's shady movements, so he delegated the task of managing that spy network to several shinobi and just returned home.

It also helped that 'Tsunade-hime' had returned home, too, but that is a story for another day.

These revelations and more boggled the minds of Naruto's Shadow Clones. With how peaceful everything was, it was like a completely alien world to them. … And that feeling was kinda mutual.

A swirling vortex appeared before the reunited dozen of Shadow Clones, and they knew right then and there that they were screwed. They should have known that they had set off the village's security system by randomly appearing, but they'd been so caught up in finding out as much as they could about this new world. It helped that the third round of the Chunin Exams was going on at this point, but they really should've expected a confrontation at some point.

"Alright, who the hell…" Obito, clad in the tacky Hokage robes and hat, stopped midsentence as he got a really good look at the twelve Shadow Clones before him. He'd _just_ left the arena during the brat's match, too… "Naruto? What the crap?"

The twelve Shadow Clones all sweatdropped. This would take looots of explaining.

Oh dear.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Well, that's probably enough for now. Not much else can be done with these specific changes in the Naruto timeline – but that's not to say I won't be continuing this thing in the future. I never said this was a one-shot or two-shot; I purposely left it vague on the off-chance I felt inspiration to write for it again and you guys wanted more.**

… **Which you did.**

 **And yes, that does mean I'll be writing out different scenarios when I write this thing again... Like... Instead of saving Obito, Naruto's Shadow Clones go back to save Haku. Or other significantly 'minor' things. I'm sure I can think of a few scenarios. Funny scenarios. XD**

 **So, I've gotta say, thanks for all the support! Hopefully this further clarifies some of the first chapter's plot; I think I honestly forgot to include that scene with Madara, but what ya gonna do? … And Danzo, of course. Good ol' Danzo. Went the way of Kakuzu, from** _ **This is for a Good Cause, I Swear!**_ **Another fic I'd recommend you check out, if you haven't read it already. ^^**

 **I'd normally do up Review Replies here, but I'm tired, so I'll just add them in tomorrow… today… Technically it's almost 2AM where I am. :P Just know I appreciate every one of ya. ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

_Timeline Gamma_

"Alright, fun's over, Naruto," Obito sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know why you have Shadow Clones running around during your match, but… it's very unprofessional. So you'd better have a very good reason for… whatever it is you're doing."

The Shadow Clones all exchanged glances with one another. Some even cocked their heads. One turned to look at Obito and posed the obvious question that was floating in all of their minds – well, except Obito's, obviously.

"Um… Who are we fighting, y'know? Neji?"

Some of the Shadow Clones face-palmed at their fellow Clone's utter unfamiliarity with tact. Now they'd be infinitely more suspicious. Obito narrowed his eyes at the genuine confusion laced in the tone of the Shadow Clone's question. From what he could tell, there wasn't an ounce of deceit in the boy before him, and yet… That just made it all the more thoroughly confusing. Why the hell didn't Naruto's Shadow Clones know who his opponent was, when he'd been training for his match for the past month?

"Naruto, c'mon now. You're fighting Ibo, remember? Tsunade's kid. Granted, he's looking to become the next Eternal Genin, but you trained hard because you know he's not to be underestimated. You should know this."

The Shadow Clones all blinked owlishly as one, which creeped out Obito all the more. But the most pressing issue… was the fact that Granny Tsunade had _reproduced_. And she'd named her son 'wart.' Just who the hell did she make a baby with?

"Uhhh… Why'd Granny Tsunade call her son 'wart'?"

Obito let out a guffaw at that one.

"Tsunade's gonna tear you a new one when she catches wind you called her _that_. And anyway, she was high on painkillers at the time, and she didn't wanna go with whatever Lord Jiraiya wanted to call him… which would have _definitely_ been something out of Icha Icha. Sure, you still gotta pity the kid for the bad choice in naming, but at least he's not, like, the main 'hero' of Icha Icha."

The Shadow Clones had zoned out long before Obito had finished his explanation. The second that Pervy Sage's name was brought up, they'd all developed thousand-yard stares. Pervy Sage… and Granny Tsunade… had had sex… Pervy Sage… and Granny Tsunade… had had _sex_ … _Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade had had sex_!

… This easily topped the holy-shit-o-meter. And was totally gross to think about. Sure, Pervy Sage had been a big time fan of Granny Tsunade's voluptuous boobs, but this kinda went beyond that. _Waaay_ beyond that. They had taken a left turn at the border of their Comfort Zone and had gone straight into the Twilight Zone.

This might just require a trip into the past to fix. Though that would be highly irresponsible, Naruto's Shadow Clones just didn't care. There were some things that were just not done. Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade having a… kid… was one such thing.

"So, let's try this again." Obito activated his Sharingan for added effect. "What the hell… are you doing out here…?"

Eleven Shadow Clones had enough presence of mind to shield their faces from the Sharingan-hypnotism-of-doom, but one didn't even need such encouragement to spill the beans, as he'd already begun talking by the time Obito had activated the Sharingan.

"Well, you won't believe us, but we're from a world where you were kidnapped and molested by Madara Uchiha and his army of Hashirama Senju Clones, and then manipulated into going with his Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan 'cause Kaka-sensei was manipulated into killing the love of your life Rin, who'd become the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki also due to Madara's manipulation, and then you were all dark and emo and manipulated a guy with the Rinnegan named Nagato to go along with Madara's insane plan – and you took up the mantle of Madara by the way – and-and then you ripped the Nine-Tails from Ma and used it to attack the village, which brought scrutiny on the Uchiha 'n stuff, and then you massacred the Uchiha with Sasuke's Big Bro Itachi years later 'cause they were wrongly suspected for that attack 'n stuff so they were plannin' a coup d'état, though I think you just wanted to massacre 'em 'cause they were jackasses and just mistreated you, 'n then you began huntin' the Tailed Beasts after gathering up a posse of S-Class Missing-Nin for the purpose of bringin' back the Ten-Tails, but you only got seven of 'em before you had to declare war on the shinobi world 'cause we wouldn't hand over Octopops 'n me, 'n then you brought all these shinobi back with Impure World Reanimation or whatever and that included Madara, who almost screwed over everybody – even you – 'n then you became the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, but the Shinobi Alliance kicked your ass, but then _Madara_ got resurrected and became the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, 'n then put the world under Infinite Tsukuyomi 'n Black Zetsu stabbed him in the back 'n turned him into a woman called Kaguya, who was like the progenitor of all Chakra, 'n then me 'n Sasuke 'n Kaka-sensei 'n Sakura-chan stopped her with your help and… why do you look so lost, y'know?"

It was true. Not halfway into Naruto's 'explanation,' and Obito just got… _lost_. _None_ of those things had happened (that he knew of; though there _was_ a purported corpse of Madara Uchiha on display in a museum). Naruto might as well have been spouting gibberish, and Obito wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. There was just nothing to be gleaned from all that nonsense.

Naruto's Shadow Clones, on the other hand, were all glaring at that one Shadow Clone now, and one even punched the idiot in the back of the head, dispelling him. Honor satisfied, another Shadow Clone decided to put his former compatriot's ramblings into simpler terms.

"We're a group of Shadow Clones that used an Uzumaki Seal to travel back into the past to fix things. There were a few others that travelled back into the past before us, so that's probably why you're Hokage and Granny Tsunade and Pervy Sage… *shudder* A-Anyway… _We_ were gonna get the drop on Oro-baka before he killed the Old Man, but it's lookin' like we don't need to do that anymore 'cause he's just… gone. It's really weird."

Obito's face warped into a 'holy shit' look at the mention of an Uzumaki time-travel seal.

"You did not. Tell me you're lying, Naruto. Holy shit."

When the eleven Shadow Clones proceeded to cock their heads at him in confusion and _not_ assuage his troubled mind, Obito promptly proceeded to hyperventilate and pass out from asphyxiation. None of the Shadow Clones knew what to do after that, so they proceeded to the arena to get a look at the abomination – er… Granny Tsunade and Pervy Sage's kid. Yeah. That.

But kami if he wasn't an abomination of nature to them. At least Orochimaru wasn't around to make weird-ass combination of people… like… a child of Danzo and Guy. The Shadow Clones collectively shuddered at that thought. They were never going to think on that again… It was bad enough to suggestion _Danzo_ reproducing anything, but Danzo and…?

… Shutting up now.

* * *

Have you heard of the many worlds interpretation of reality? Yes? No? Well, even if you have, let's catch everyone up to speed.

Life consists of choices. Everything we do even down to the minutest of actions can affect the course of history. Like, say you have the options of scratching your head, blowing a kiss, tap-dancing, or moonwalking; maybe you choose to do one of those things, or maybe you decide to do something completely different. Whatever the case, in this example you can only do one thing. A single choice. Maybe in one world you choose to scratch your head, but in another you choose to moonwalk instead. When you make a choice, there are other worlds that branch off because you make different choices in those other worlds. Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to have actually studied instead of procrastinating? Or what if you chose to take someone else to the junior prom?

… It doesn't even have to be humans; that's just the easiest of examples. Creatures of all kinds can do things differently; generally speaking, it all boils down to the molecules and how they 'decide' to bounce off one another. But what does this have to do with anything, you ask? … Put simply, Naruto _could_ have organized his groups of Shadow Clones differently. He _could_ have decided to start out small when making changes to the timeline, instead of 'going big or going home' by killing off Madara and Danzo. He _could_ have sent a batch of Shadow Clones to go back and save Zabuza and Haku instead. He _could_ have dispatched a group of Shadow Clones to save Gaara from Deidara and Sasori when they first went after him for Shukaku. He _could_ have sent a group back in time to kick Sasuke's ass and prevent him from going rogue.

Or he could have done something completely different.

Choices, choices, choices. In one world, Naruto opted _not_ to start small, but in others…

* * *

 _Timeline Delta_

The night was young as Sasuke Uchiha trudged along a pathway that would ultimately lead to the front gate of the village. He'd just finished saying goodbye to Sakura, who had pitifully begged him to stay, but Sasuke couldn't really bring himself to accommodate her request. There was nothing here for him anymore. If he hoped to defeat his brother, Sasuke needed _power_. And he wouldn't find that here, in a village of weaklings; after all, if the Dead Last was catching up to him in strength, that only meant the training here sucked. Or heavily unfairly favored the idiot.

Either way, Sasuke was done with the Hidden Leaf. It'd been the home of his ancestors for years, decades, but Sasuke had come to feel annoyed with this place more than anything else. Itachi was one of the greatest threats to their national security, and the Hidden Leaf couldn't even muster up a proper hunter unit to track him down. Pathetic. If you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself, and that's exactly what Sasuke was setting out to do.

He did _not_ anticipate a randomly-appearing lightning-spewing vortex to intercept his path. He'd just reached the gate, damn it; if Kakashi had returned, did he really need to make such theatrics? Sasuke was leaving, and he would not let even his 'Sensei' interfere with his ambition to kill Itachi. Orochimaru currently offered way more than the Yellow Flash's former mutt.

" _Sasuke_!" A familiar voice rang out as roughly fifty Shadow Clones of the orange eyesore emerged from the vortex. … Okay, so he looked kinda different. Older maybe? Meh. Whatever. "You're not goin' anywhere, damn it!"

Sasuke scoffed as he set himself in a battle-ready stance. Naruto might have numbers on his side… for now… But multiply zero by any number, and you'll still total the amount of skill the Dead Last possessed. That is to say zilch, nada, not even worth a second of Sasuke's precious time. He'd timed his escape perfectly; it really helped to have their forces so spread thin after the Sand-Sound Invasion at the Chunin Exams. You'd think they would put _more_ security at the front gates, but stupidity seemed to be contagious in this place.

Before Sasuke could even blink, he was pinned by one of Naruto's Shadow Clones, who had some strange orange coloration around his eyes as well as bizarre bar pupils. Sasuke had never seen anything like it. That didn't matter, though; what did matter was that the Dead Last had him in a damn good grip, and he wasn't letting go anytime soon. Sasuke snarled and struggled as best as he could with punches and kicks, and still Naruto kept him pinned.

Eventually, Naruto picked him up off the ground with that seemingly newfound super strength of his and held him in place long enough for another Shadow Clone to sneak up behind him with a brush and sealing ink. In seconds, Sasuke could feel the power of the Curse Mark draining away from his body; not only the power, but the very Cursed Seal itself – the Seal was washing off of him like it was runny oil, and Sasuke couldn't tell why. It made Sasuke _furious_. How dare that pissant take away the power that was rightfully _his_?! Was the Dead Last jealous? Did he feel a sense of accomplishment by stealing his rival's additional strength?

… When the hell had the Dead Last even acquired a skill for Sealing Jutsu? Did he get that from the Toad Sannin or something? Whatever. The point was that the Dead Last had… had… had taken away the Cursed Seal, and how the fuck was that possible?! Kakashi had said that it couldn't be removed! There wasn't a method for removing it yet!

"Sleep." The blond in front of him commanded, using two fingers to encourage Sasuke's eyelids to close. But Naruto needn't have done that; Sasuke was feeling the toll that came with the abrupt loss of the Cursed Seal, and it made him tired. Exhausted, even.

Once the Uchiha was out like a light, the Shadow Clone in front of him smirked and passed the Clan Heir to the Clone that had performed the Sealing technique. The two shared a salute before they parted ways. One Shadow Clone in the direction of the hospital to get Sasuke cared for, and the other to join the other forty-eight Shadow Clones in taking out the Sound Four and eventually dismantling the Hidden Sound Village.

Which they could totally do, because Orochimaru was kind enough to be forthcoming with information in the future. So not even the great Snake Sannin would pose a threat to the contingent of Shadow Clones. Especially in his weakened state.

Believe it!

* * *

 _Timeline Epsilon_

One of Naruto's greatest regrets was his inability to save his godfather. Sure, at the time he wasn't strong enough to save the man; he had to undergo Sage Jutsu training in order to go toe-to-toe with Pain, and even then it was a close thing.

But that's in the past. Naruto couldn't have saved his godfather _at that point in time_. Until now, anyway. It's said that "not even Jupiter can find her lost opportunities," but that's _exactly_ what Naruto could do with the time-travel Seal retrieved from the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool Village. … Is it a lost opportunity if he couldn't stand up to Pain at that point in time? Meh. Even if it couldn't be considered an opportunity back then, it was now. Naruto was under no constraints whatsoever to complete a mission or to stay in the village – well, his Shadow Clone wasn't.

That's right. Naruto sent back a single Shadow Clone to this terrible day. It wasn't so much arrogance as it was knowing to fight smart. Naruto didn't need to combat Nagato's Six Paths of Pain to win. He just needed to find Nagato and kick the crap out of him before his Six Paths of Pain did away with Pervy Sage. With Sage Jutsu, just about anything's possible. And because Konan was currently battling Jiraiya, Nagato was left unattended. Unprotected. Vulnerable.

"This is an unexpected development," Nagato murmured to himself as he observed the blond orange-clad figure before him. "How the hell did you get this far into my village without getting seen by anybody? And why the hell aren't my other Paths responding…?"

Indeed, Naruto had taken precautionary measures before coming to face Nagato. He couldn't do anything about the Animal Path that was out there getting ready to face Jiraiya, but he could damn well prevent the use of the other five Paths by removing their Chakra Receivers and burning the bodies to a crisp (except Yahiko's) via Sealed-up flames of Amaterasu. Not even the spare bodies were, well, spared.

Put bluntly, Nagato was hosed. He had no backup coming, he couldn't maneuver very well given his body's current condition, and he did not like the way Naruto was glaring at him…

"Y'know, I eventually forgave you for what you did. You killed our former Sensei, and you eventually turned your worldview around. But I _hate_ the way you were before. You're currently a prick with a god complex, and I just can't let that go unpunished. The simplest way would be to kill you, but I'm not that heartless. No. I'm gonna tear out those damn Rinnegan and destroy them before Tobi can get his filthy hands on them, and then you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna regrow your old eyes back. I'm gonna heal your damn legs so you can walk again, and _then_ … _then_ I'm going to make you and Konan face Jiraiya-sensei in a confined space with no room to be able to attack him. You are going to work out whatever bad blood you have between you, and _you are going to like it_!"

Nagato was twitching by this point. He did not like the sound of this. He did not like the sound of it _at all_. Nagato used his last line of defense to try and impale the man before him, but Naruto's Shadow Clone dodged the projectile Receiver and charged straight at Nagato. In moments Naruto yanked the Rinnegan out of Nagato's eye sockets. In moments Naruto had placed a hand over each of Nagato's empty eye sockets, and then a 'new' pair of eyes was regrown. In moments, Naruto repeated the procedure for Nagato's legs, and Nagato found he could _walk_ again.

Minutes later, the redhead found himself whisked away by this bizarre blond stranger to a prepared, Sealed-off location; and minutes after that, was joined by Konan and Jiraiya-sensei, _just_ as that blond weirdo had said. The use of Chakra as a weapon was impossible in this specially-created environment, and there was some sort of Gravity Seal at work that made it torture to lift even a finger.

Except for talking, obviously. All they could do _was talk_. And like it or not, that's exactly what Nagato, Konan, and Jiraiya did in that bizarre environment. They yelled and yelled and yelled at one another until it physically hurt to speak… But then the healing began, as Nagato and Konan realized Jiraiya-sensei was hurting just as much as they were on the inside, as impossible as that sounded.

This Therapy Jutsu, or whatever you want to call it, it might have been awkward, but damn if it wasn't effective… And the trio wasn't able to thank Naruto's Shadow Clone properly, as it had dispelled long before they had ceased their shouting match. Whatever purpose that blond sought to accomplish, it seemed to have worked…

 **Author's Note:**

 **That was fun. More to come, my duckies. :D Did you like all the references made here? I like Lucillia's works, and I _did_ reference Virtue's Last Reward a few times here... I highly recommend it if you have a 3DS. And are a fan of time-travel, parallel worlds, and multiple endings... It has Gaara's English Voice Actor voicing one of the main characters, c'mon... XD**

 **Review Replies:**

 **. : Glad you enjoyed! ^^**

 **Duesal Bladesinger: Have always been a big fan of time-travel stories, both serious and not-so-serious. About time I tried my hand at writing one. Gonna make it completely bonkers. :D**

 **SeabeeGR: Thanks! I dunno how long this one'll go, but I hope to keep the fun going for a little while... ^^**

 **horus100: Thanks for the support!**

 **Kurasabe: ... Well, everyone seemed to want that, so I felt it only right to supply such a scene. Glad you enjoyed. :D**

 **Hektols: Something I've wanted to address - your first review (sorry for the late reply). Basically, the first part of Chapter One with the villages invading the Hidden Leaf was done to highlight how _paranoid_ the other villages are about the Uzumaki and their seals. This is a crackfic; the paranoia does not have to be rational. Just go with the flow, man. The paranoia is deep-seated enough to override even the tightest of bonds after the Fourth War. :D I don't know about the memories just yet, but I'm sure I'll work something out...**

 **vagabound xxx: Thanks! I appreciate the support. ^^**

 **ChronoPhoenix: Well, there ya go. Did not go over well. :D**

 **Johnny (Guest): Happy to entertain! ^^**

 **Black' Victor Cachat: Glad you've been enjoying it! The reference to that particular fic of Lucillia's was intentional. Totally admire that fic, and the idea of Danzo and... That Guy... having a baby... I lost it when I read that. That was hysterical. XD I was particularly happy about the scene with Naruto and Nagato here at the end. Turned out really nice. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto Uzumaki, as defined by a lot of people, is not a sane or logical person. Yes, he's got a hero complex, and yes, that which he fights for is noble and just… But damn if his Therapy no Jutsu and friendship speeches don't grate on the ears. He's also got a ramen fixation, a short attention span, an obsession with the color orange, and a downright diabolical inner prankster.

Add all that up with the ability to time travel, and you get some pretty irresponsible reasons for travelling back in time. Of course, in these timelines, the minor changes are just to see if the Time Travel Jutsu works…

But they're annoying all the same.

* * *

"Naruto? When did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?" Ayame blinked owlishly at the supposed teenager in front of her. For indeed, Naruto's Shadow Clone had applied a Transformation to forego the troublesome explanation for why he looked older.

Time was of the essence, and Naruto could not waste a second. Ayame appeared packed and ready to go, and Naruto could _not_ let that happen.

Not without getting signed consent about something, anyway.

"Ayame. No. You do _not_ need to go on this trip. Ichiraku's is the best in the whole village, and if you go on this trip you will become jealous of the other foods of the world and forget that. Stay. Here." Naruto told her quite sternly.

Ayame only shook her head.

"Naruto… Everyone needs a break, and I think I'm looong overdue. I just want to see how other businesses compete, and _maybe_ implement some changes in how we do things."

This did not placate Naruto _at all_.

"Ayame…" Naruto tried to regulate his breathing through his nose, tried to calm down. It wasn't working. He whipped out a long contract form and shoved it in the ramen server girl's face. "I… In that case, I'm going to need you to sign this! No questions asked!"

Ayame was still perplexed as she took the form from Naruto's Clone. She scratched her head as she perused the document.

"'By going on this trip around the world, I, Ayame Ichiraku, hereby agree to not turn the Ramen Ichiraku Franchise into a Tsukemen stand. I recognize that is a terrible idea and will never, ever, _ever_ think about taking Ramen off the menu. Ever. If I do, for some idiotic reason, decide to add Tsukemen to the menu, I will graciously leave Divine Ramen on the menu For the Sake of the Customers.'" Ayame muttered this aloud as she read the bottom of the document. She raised a delicate eyebrow as she looked up at Naruto's Shadow Clone again. "Naruto, what the hell…"

" **SIGN IT!** "

* * *

 _Timeline Eita_

Young Might Guy hummed to himself as he perused the Hidden Leaf's Ninjaco for a new uniform to wear. Now that he was out of the Academy, Guy felt it was time for a new change in wardrobe, and he decided that he really liked his father's suit. It was called a Jumpsuit, apparently. Most Youthful. The Most Youthful uniform he had ever seen.

Guy decided he wanted a Most Youthful Jumpsuit, now that he was a Genin. He was a Real and Most Youthful Ninja like his Most Youthful Father. _Youth_!

Problem was, his father said that he got his Jumpsuit from the local Ninjaco, and Might Guy could not locate the Most Youthful Jumpsuits. Well, until he searched every nook and cranny. Only then did he find the Most Youthful Jumpsuits section, tucked away in a deep, dark corner of the store that most people seemed to avoid with a ten-yard stick.

But Guy had _found_ them, at last! As he rushed up to the piles of Green Jumpsuits, an outstretched arm intercepted his path. Guy looked up at a totally cloaked stranger perplexedly. He could scarcely make out the lower half of the man's face and the man's hands; beyond that, nothing.

"You don't want that one." The Mysterious Stranger stated in a deadpan voice. Guy struck his traditional Thinking Pose as he took in the piles of Jumpsuits in front of him. There _were_ other colors of Jumpsuits; Guy had just wanted to imitate his father, but perhaps the Mysterious Stranger was right.

"Then… How about This One?" Guy made to attempt to go for the Sky Blue Jumpsuits, which stuck Guy as Another Color of Springtime of Youth.

But alas, the cloaked stranger shook his head firmly.

"Nope."

Guy hummed and maneuvered toward the pink Jumpsuits. This elicited a shudder from the Mysterious Stranger and a more forceful rejection. Same thing for the purple and violet ones. Curiously, the same thing also happened for the Navy Blue Jumpsuits.

Guy would never know, but Naruto's Clone was picturing Sasuke Uchiha in one of those Jumpsuits. And he didn't like that mental image. _At all_.

"What Most Youthful Color would you suggest then, Mysterious Stranger?" Guy finally posed the question after going through half a dozen more Colors of Jumpsuits. For indeed there was that much of a variety in Jumpsuits. _Youth_!

"Take the Orange ones."

Guy swore he saw a flicker of a grin pass over the Mysterious Stranger's lips. But he passed it off as a hallucination; why would this Most Youthful Mysterious Stranger be amused with so Unyouthfully denying him these Most Youthful Jumpsuits?

Youth.

"Why Orange? That is more of a Color of the Most Unyouthful Season of Fall."

There goes that Phantom Grin again. Guy even swore the Mysterious Stranger was trying to suppress quiet laughter.

"B-Because Fall isn't 'Unyouthful'. It's… It's, like, the one season where you're at your peak; you've experienced half a year of Youth, and the Youthful Year isn't over yet – it's still about a Youthful Season off. So your Youth isn't dead like it is in Unyouthful Winter. And besides, if you can hide in Vibrant Orange and outrun the village's elite with it, you'll totally be more Ninja than your Hip Rival."

Naruto's Shadow Clone waited with bated breath as he awaited Guy's answer to his total bullshit. Even if Guy stuck with that Youthful Springtime crap, it was worth a try. Orange is the best damn color. Dattebayo.

Guy contemplated the Mysterious Stranger's view of Youth… and found it possessed merit. Truly, this Mysterious Stranger was _Roaring_ with the Power of _Youth_!

"Yes! I see that you are Wise Beyond Your Years, Most Youthful Mysterious Stranger! I shall get the Most Youthful Orange Jumpsuits!"

With that said, Guy dashed forward and scooped up the whole damn pile while conveniently ignoring the Mysterious Stranger, who had broken out in guffaws and was now rolling on the floor, laughing. It was Most Youthful Laughter, after all.

Naruto's Shadow Clone, on the other hand… Well, he wasn't gonna be suffering any of the fallout, so why should he care? … Then again, he probably was if this Time Travel Jutsu thing worked. But still. He couldn't believe Guy fell for that. Didn't matter if he was an 'impressionable child'. He _fell for it_.

Kami. If Kakashi ever found about this, though, he was screwed… Oh well.

* * *

 _Timeline Theta_

Iruka twitched as he got to the name of Team Seven's 'Jonin Instructor' on the list. It would have been easy enough to just replace the listed names with Kakashi Hatake – who was the Hokage-approved Sensei of Team Seven, and it was very apparent this was Naruto's doing in some way – but that would _not_ explain the presence of the Legendary Sannin in the room, and it would just disappoint most of the starry-eye kids anyway.

… Oh, who was he kidding? They'll be disappointed anyway. Iruka sighed deeply before playing along with Naruto's prank; keeping in mind that he would be having words with the boy later. Inwardly, he cracked up a _little_ at the fact that the boy supplied 'last names' for Jiraiya and Orochimaru. For the hell of it, he even read the 'Hokage's' notes.

"'Team Seven's Instructor _s_ will be Jiraiya The Pervert, Tsunade Granny Senju, and Orochimaru That Damn Pedophile. Normally you would only get one, but since we don't support favoritism in this village, you're each getting a Sannin to help reach your goals. Don't worry, Orochimaru's been vetted and he won't perv on Sasuke… much.'" Iruka was equally parts amused and disgusted with that last bit, but… the Snake Sannin _had_ been a rogue ninja and highly unethical in recent years before he randomly turned up in the Hokage's Office last week completely sane, which was Just Plain Weird for all of those who had known the Snake Sannin personally.

He'd even removed Anko's Curse Seal, to the unhinged interrogator's chagrin. Yet Inoichi Yamanaka had assured the whole village that the Snake Sannin was indeed in his right mind and not planning some kind of village takeover or whatever. When asked who or what happened to the Snake Sannin, Inoichi had only this to say:

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it. But I'm told that Therapy no Jutsu is very real, and should be recognized as an official Jutsu. Dattebayo."

… The verbal tick was weird, and had some convinced that Inoichi had gone mad, but… Whatever the case, the Snake Sannin had received Inoichi's seal of approval and the Hokage's pardon for all his past crimes. _That_ was even weirder, but then again, these were strange times indeed. Because Danzo Shimura had dyed his hair pink, Madara's face was etched into the Hokage Monument to the left of Hashirama's face, and all the civilians' houses inexplicably had their houses painted orange within the span of two hours. Iruka might have suspected Naruto for that prank, too, if not for the fact it was _solely_ civilians' houses that were painted orange and all that painting was done in two hours.

Hey, Naruto might have had that Shadow Clone Jutsu now, but even he wouldn't bother to research so thoroughly to find out who was civilian and who was not in the whole village. Iruka was even beginning to suspect the Sannin Sensei thing wasn't Naruto's doing, either, 'cause _he_ couldn't have brought back all three of the Sannin to the village and rehabilitate them in short order.

… Could he?

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Another small treat for you guys. Sorry if you wanted something slightly more serious, but it's finals week for me, and I could only do up this much. … But it was good fun. And my imagination kinda got away from me in the last bit. So much crack. :D**

 **Will get Review Replies out later. Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

It takes hundreds, perhaps _thousands_ of Naruto's to fix the original timeline any number of ways. It takes _one_ Uchiha to take beautiful Amaterasu to that network of different timelines, and erase them forever. For you see, Naruto? He's flighty. He won't admit it, but he looks back on all of his past experiences and wants to change all of it. Give everyone their happy ending, which results in a tangled mess of timelines. He takes a mysterious Seal from the former Land of Whirlpools, brings it home, and tinkers with it until he makes a pretty decent Time Travel Seal.

But Sasuke? Why, he's the opposite of Naruto in every way. He thinks through his actions (at least when he's not revenge-obsessed…). He's a 'genius'. Sasuke was made aware of that Seal the day Naruto brought it home; how could he not? Come what may, Naruto really did change him for the better, and now the current incarnation of Indra is for once in many lifetimes acting like the older brother he should be. He warns Naruto the Seal wouldn't be a good idea, for the precise reason that Naruto is so indecisive.

Naruto doesn't see the bigger picture. He never does, because he didn't process Hagoromo's tale very well. Sasuke, as 'revolutionary' as he was at that time, did, in fact, listen to Hagoromo's tale. Quite sharply. Hell, he thought Hagoromo's decisions were wrong when he heard them in detail.

He still did, to some degree, but he, Naruto, and everybody else had worked together to fix that mess, so Sasuke was pretty content with how things were.

But Naruto was tenacious. Sasuke knew it. Kakashi knew it. Sakura knew it. Everyone in the village even down to the homeless shmuck knew it. Nobody was aware of Naruto working on that Time Travel Seal… except for 'older brother' Sasuke. So like caring older brother, much like Itachi had been to him, Sasuke had made a copy of that Seal by memorizing the strokes with his Sharingan. And he kept it for just the right moment.

Namely, when Naruto's Shadow Clones went on those expeditions into the past. Sasuke did not make a Shadow Clone for this; he wanted to _personally_ be the one to fix the mess Naruto would soon create. Yes, that meant he would be moored in the distant past, but frankly, it was better that way. Naruto's Shadow Clones could get a job done, but they couldn't stick around to ensure that things _stayed_ fixed.

Sasuke preferred to oversee things, no matter how 'inconvenient' it would be to be treated suspiciously because of being from the future. So, timing it perfectly, Sasuke used his Time Travel Seal the _second_ that Naruto's Shadow Clones used theirs. Sharingan hax and all that.

That flash of light that followed? That wasn't any of the Clones' doing. That was Sasuke cutting the problem off at the root. Naruto might have killed Black Zetsu in the past in a timeline or two, but he didn't go far back as Sasuke, ironically enough.

What separated Sasuke from Naruto… it all boiled down to decisiveness. There was no 'well, what if I did _this_ instead?' with him. No, no, no. One trip to the past was needed, and one trip only.

* * *

 **Timeline Omega**

To be frank, Sasuke had to go back _slightly_ further than he had wanted, but that was because he was unsure of when the manipulating had begun. He was around when Asura and Indra were born, and he watched the two boys grow up. Indra in particular Sasuke paid attention to; following him whenever the boy went off on his own to train.

Sasuke had to admit, for his original predecessor, Indra _strongly_ resembled him. It was him who had invented hand signs, interestingly enough. Sasuke was pleased to see that the boy had a childhood very similar to his own – the bond between the brothers was very strong. And if Sasuke had his way…

Oh, who are we kidding? We all know Sasuke got what he wanted.

 _'_ _So it was you… You inherited Mother's powers!'_

"Who's there?! Come out!"

Sasuke knew when he heard that, it was his cue. He'd introduced himself to Indra from day one, pretty much, so the boy was accustomed to him being around whenever he trained. Sasuke had come across as a hermit, but one completely different from Indra's father, he was quick to correct whatever 'positive' image the boy might draw from that information. Another reason for staying in the past was one of atonement. He would never get to see how his family and friends turned out.

Oh, Sasuke. If only you knew that Hagoromo felt he had sins to atone for as well.

 _'_ _I'll always be watching you…'_

Indra was a child, so he couldn't pinpoint Black Zetsu's exact location in the forest, but Sasuke could. And before the bastard managed to slip away, he had cast Amaterasu on him. This had the intended effect of Black Zetsu whipping around to face Sasuke, who he _thought_ wasn't present for this training session.

Sasuke had gotten quite good at hiding his presence.

 _'_ _Wh-What?! Why!'_ Black Zetsu screeched as he made the classical mistake of looking into Sasuke's eyes.

He wouldn't be slipping into the ground to escape the flames now.

"You destroyed so many lives… and I don't _care_ if it was 'indirectly'. Conflict will inevitably arise, but you controlled so much of it, behind the scenes. You set the Uchiha against the Senju, which turned into a Warring States Era. From there they organized into villages, and gave birth to even more violent conflicts. _You_ are the progenitor of all that is _vile_!" Sasuke snarled at the creature, Eternal Mangekyo flaring. "Not this time…"

To be honest, Indra was quite unsettled at Sasuke's change in demeanor, but he had _no idea_ how righteous his anger was. With one last dying howl, Black Zetsu perished. Not a scrap of him remained.

With his fury vented once and for all, Sasuke immediately calmed down and deactivated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for what he hoped would be the last time.

"Why did you kill him? He didn't do anything." Indra felt obligated to point out, now that they were alone again.

Sasuke straightened up and stared down at Indra from the tree branch he was standing on.

"You are correct, Indra. He hadn't. And now he never will." He began to turn away, but he tacked on the end, "That _creature_ would have manipulated you, Indra. Set you on a path of destruction you never would have returned from. It wasn't even human to begin with; just the creation of a woman gone mad. Or perhaps she was never sane to begin with. Either way, it doesn't matter. The future will be secure now."

"You say that thing would have manipulated me… But how do I know you won't do the same?" Indra asked with a suspicious glare.

Sasuke now had his back fully to Indra now.

"Because you won't see me around anymore." Sasuke bluntly replied. "Look out for your brother. Help him. Asura has plenty of latent potential, so don't look down on him because he stumbles now. He will continue to do that, but in time it will become clear that he is just as talented as you are. Work together and build a future that everyone can be proud of."

Indra looked at Sasuke's back contemplatively. He searched for any veiled threats to Asura, but as far as he could tell, there was none. A breeze was all that was heard in the silence that followed Sasuke's speech, and before too long, Sasuke had disappeared in a shunshin.

The ripples that would follow this 'small' change…

* * *

"I think Indra will make a fine successor," Futami told Hagoromo, within earshot of Indra. "With him leading the followers of Ninshu, the future is bright!"

Hagoromo frowned minutely, as the subject came up again. He wasn't quite ready to 'decide' who would be his successor. But apparently, he didn't need to worry. Indra shook his head and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Why should there be _one_ successor? I get that a clear leader is important for structural integrity, but I refuse to follow tradition."

Hagoromo raised an eyebrow at his eldest son. He'd been quite strange as of late; seeming much wiser beyond his years.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"It's blatant favoritism," Indra replied curtly, like it was elementary. Which it was. "If there's one leader, who's going to have the courage to step up to him when he's clearly in the wrong? People will either be too scared, or they'll come together and openly rebel. That's not _order_."

"Then what would you recommend?" Hagoromo inquired curiously. His son did bring up good points.

Indra scowled fiercely. Was his father blind?

"You have two sons, don't you? So why don't you leave the future of Ninshu to _both_ of us?"

For the first time in a long time when this discussion took place, Hagoromo _smiled_.

"Asura isn't respected like you are… He has trouble using Jutsu."

"But he's _improving_!" Indra all but roared. "And also… Respect should be earned, not freely given. Asura can keep me in check when the time comes."

Futami looked like he was going to object to the whole idea, but Hagoromo nodded firmly.

"I see… We shall try your suggestion, Indra. Keep working with your brother."

Indra bowed respectfully and left the dojo. Futami looked between Indra's receding back and Hagoromo.

"But… Hagoromo! This will completely shatter the system!"

"Perhaps it is for the best." Hagoromo told his disciple sternly. "The 'system' naturally gives power to the eldest, while leaving the younger siblings with nothing. I had been dwelling on the possibility of Asura becoming the successor instead… But it would change nothing. Perhaps change will do us some good."

After all, Gamamaru had one morning told him _all_ about how the future was inexplicably changed. In an annoyed tone, and admitting that he couldn't tell what was in store for them now, but Hagoromo merely laughed and told Gamamaru to roll with it. The future would be whatever it would be. They really had no business 'knowing' it in the first place.

* * *

Time passed, and Asura and Indra became adults. They were Hagoromo's successors, and both married and started families. Asura's power had manifested, as Indra had told his father it would, but it was completely different from Indra's. Indra had acquired the Sharingan, and eventually the Mangekyo Sharingan, but he did not become obsessed with power. On the contrary, he likened power to fire. Fire was useful for a number of things, but too much and you could hurt yourself or others.

Indra considered his 'power' a huge burden rather than a gift, like his Ninshu followers looked at him. He trained his immediate family in the art of Ninjutsu, but cautioned them to not abuse it. Asura, on the other hand, taught his immediate family to work and train hard; to look to Indra's family in times of trouble, when their gifts would not be enough to save them. This familial loyalty passed onto future generations, to the point that the Senju and Uchiha Clans were joined at the hip. An Eternal Alliance had been forged.

Sasuke got to watch all of this unfold, and he was there when the world plunged into the Warring Clans Era. The difference being, of course, that it wasn't the Senju and Uchiha to start it. Sasuke pondered whether or not the Shimura Clan was cursed or something, because ironically enough, it was _them_ that initiated that long era of war, this time around. Sasuke was very tempted to step in, but he did not, as it was not his place anymore. He had salvaged the future by killing the Orchestrator of Misery, so he would leave the rest to Indra, Asura, and their Clans.

Sasuke would pass on long before the time of Hashirama and Madara, but he did get to see many a battle where a terrifying purple Susano'o battled alongside a golden-colored construct of Six Paths Sage Mode. It was like watching an alternate reality, where he and Naruto got to hone those skills in numerous battles, and not just against Madara and Kaguya. All the same, he would _not_ get to see the conclusion of this damned era.

It would prove to be interesting.

* * *

"So, what do we call you, Mads?" 'Hokage' Hashirama Senju grinned at his childhood friend, who had just been instated with him in joint leadership of the village. They hadn't quite come up with a name for Madara's 'position', though.

"Don't call me that." Madara scowled moodily. And in reply to the query, he shrugged. "And I don't give a damn about titles. But call me Prince Fluffington or something of that ilk, and so help me, I will kick your ass."

Evidently, Madara still took great pride in his luscious black spiky hair. Hashirama laughed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm. Why don't we go with 'Anbu' for your section of government, and make you the commander of that?"

Madara rolled his eyes but did not disagree. He turned to leave the office.

"Just keep the bureaucratic politicians away from me, and keep training the baby ninja."

Hashirama frowned minutely.

"That's not nice, Mads. I've got Genin, Chunin, and Jonin under my command, too, y'know. Not just the Academy cadets."

"Right. Toddlers, children, and adolescents. … And _stop_ calling me that."

Hashirama slapped a palm across his face and groaned. Madara was _fine_ leaving the majority of leadership to him – because really, Madara was a warrior at heart, and he just wanted to be in charge of the hardcore shinobi who would go on the really dangerous missions – but that didn't give him the right to insult people of 'less talent'…

The next generation would surpass them, one day.

* * *

Tobirama did not regret passing on the torch to Sarutobi in the least, when they were confronted by the Kinkaku Squad. They had much longer to live than he did, and so they had more of a right to escape than him. Every single one of them.

What he had not anticipated was backup coming just as he was about to die.

"Tobirama, you numbskull! Just what do you think you were doing, taking these guys on alone?!" Izuna exclaimed as he took out the Kinkaku Squad member that was about to execute him with a Fire Style Jutsu. "I almost didn't make it!"

Tobirama twitched, but did not offer a 'defense'. He simply resumed fighting. It was Izuna's choice to treat him like a sibling, ever since Madara passed away months ago. Tobirama might have found it annoying, but he didn't have the heart to tell the man 'no'. Not when his own brother had passed away as well.

Maybe Hiruzen wouldn't have to take up the Hokage title just yet…

* * *

Hiruzen had been a Hokage-in-training when he took on a Genin team. No official administrative duties gave him the opportunity to keep a close eye on all of his Genin. Though Jiraiya did slip by with that little episode of Reverse Summoning himself to Mount Myoboku…

He hadn't taken his eyes off Jiraiya ever since.

But more than Jiraiya, Hiruzen kept an eye on Orochimaru, who had lost his parents recently. The boy was certainly ambitious, but Hiruzen made sure the boy's ambition didn't flare out of control.

"I want to become Hokage and learn all of the Jutsu in the world!" Orochimaru boldly declared.

Hiruzen chuckled and rubbed the top of the boy's head.

"Perhaps someday, but always keep in mind that power comes with a price. Never forget the allies you fight alongside; if you wish to become Hokage, then that is the first lesson you must learn. You can try and become immortal and indeed learn all of the world's Jutsu, but all of that will mean nothing if you cast away every person you care for. Simply 'knowing' everything will not be very fulfilling; filling your heart with others will, however."

Orochimaru absorbed the lesson like a sponge. And with his Sensei's help, he did develop a decent moral compass.

* * *

"So, you want to use the name 'Naruto', eh? Y'know that 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' really isn't my finest work. It didn't sell very well." Jiraiya told his former student sheepishly.

"I don't think that at all. I think it's a wonderful story! I'll be happy if my son becomes half as righteous as the hero in your story." Minato smiled warmly.

Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair and grimaced slightly.

"Yeeeah… It'll just all depend on who he takes after. 'Cause if he turns out like a mini-Kushina…"

"Don't remind me. I hear that enough from Obito these days."

Jiraiya just boomingly laughed. That boy had the misfortune of catching the conception of Naruto in the park. He still wouldn't pick up Icha Icha Paradise with a thirty-foot pole. Now his teammates, on the other hand… Yes, that included adorable little Rin. Who figured _she'd_ traverse the path of Pervert-dom? Then again, she _was_ a medic-nin…

* * *

"Will you train with me, brother?!" Little Sasuke asked ecstatically, only for his mood to change on a dime when Itachi poked him on the forehead.

"Sorry, Sasuke… The Senju are coming over tonight. Father needs me on hand in case Lady Tsunade gets raving drunk again and her husband and brother can't control her… We don't want half of our house to be rebuilt again."

Sasuke shivered at the reminder. Tsunade had cemented in his mind the fact that kunoichi were scary as _hell_. Which is why he virtuously avoided his fangirls at the Academy. He did not want to take his chance on one and discover later on that she could uproot with house with one hand.

Little Sasuke had no idea that he had allowed this all to happen, either. Well, an alternate future version of him, anyway. Lord Fourth was still the Hokage, though sometimes it was hard to tell because Kushina seemed to have the pants in their marriage half the time. Lord Fourth was grooming his Uncle Obito to be the next Hokage, and knowing his rival, Naruto would be succeeding him.

Sasuke, though, didn't want to become Hokage. He just wanted to become strong and move past his brother's shadow. He loved Itachi, he really did, but having a talented older brother sometimes sucked… Everyone overlooked you, or plainly compared you to him. And for Naruto, it sucked because _he couldn't control_ all of his younger brothers and sisters. All four of them.

Yeah, Naruto wasn't nearly as badass as Itachi was at being the older brother. Though Sasuke did have the horrifying, daunting task ahead of him of being the _middle_ sibling, because his mother was expecting again…

It was all so different, and nobody but a long-dead Sasuke Uchiha was any the wiser.

* * *

 **Author's Note: … Well, that's a wrap on this one for now. The big reason I didn't update this for half a year is 'cause I had so many newer ideas and whatnot. I didn't even think of having Sasuke seriously use the Time Travel Seal as well until I saw today's anime filler episode. Say what you will, but I found it** ** _tolerable_** **, compared to the past couple filler arcs. Frankly, I found it 'good'. :P**

 **Will there someday be more chapters with Naruto's Shadow Clones wreaking havoc? Probably. But keep in mind that this is the conclusion, so all of those timelines will be done away with. This is 'Timeline Omega' for a reason. lol Admittedly, this was more serious than past chaps, but, I liked how it flowed, at least for the most part.**

 **Thanks so much for tuning in! You guys rock.**


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